Aerial tramway



June 18, 1935. c c BEATTY E AL 2,005,126

AERIAL TRAMWAY Filed May 21, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 [memora- June 18, 1935- v c. .c. BEATTY Er AL 2,005,126

AERIAL TRAMWAY Filed May 21, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 CLfii/EE C. 5547-73 and ELM/5E J LLOYD.

June 18, 1935. c; c. BEATTY r AL 2,005,125

AERIAL TRAMWAY Filed May 2 1, 1934 s Sheets-Sheet 5 HF/2L 5% jnveniars:

CIA/RE" C. BE/QTTY m4 ELMEE J. LLOYD. v

Patented June 18, 1935 PATENT OFFICE AERIAL TRAMWAY Claire C. Beatty and Elmer J. Lloyd, Worcester, Mass, assignors to The American Steel and Wlle Company of New Jersey, a corporation 1 of New Jersey Application May 21, 1934, Serial No. 726,782

1 Claim.

This invention relates to aerial tramways, and more particularly to those employing a double overhead track together with a reversible tramway cable.

According to current practice, what is known as a double reversible tramway comprises a pair of supporting structures, one at either endoi the path through which the tramway is intended to be moved. Two overhead tracks are made to extend between the two supports, on each of which a tramway carrier is disposed so that when one is at the loading end, the other one is at the discharging end. These carriages are adapted for attachment to an adjacently disposed tramway cable, and are also adapted for movement on the tracks by moving the cable in either direc" tion. A great deal of trouble has been experienced in efficiently loading the carriers con-' nected to the carriages which ride upon the tracks, due to the fact that considerable spillage will result if the discharge doors of the carriers are not tightly closed. In addition, extreme care must be taken to discontinue the operation of the conveyer of the loading bin prior to the reversing of the tramway cable driving means which returns the carriers to the other station.

It has therefore been the practice to manually operate the various devices at the proper times, which not only necessitates several attendants but occasions a waste of time.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a novel aerial tramway of the double reversible type in which the carriers are loaded, conveyed and returned by mechanisms which function entirely automatically.

A further object is to provide a novel device of the class described embodying resiliently mounted track sections adjacent theloading bin which will be depressed when the carriers are completely filled with material to be conveyed, and will function to automatically discontinue the operation of the loading conveyer and cause the tramway cable driving means to remove the carriage and carrier from the loading station.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a novel closing device for the door of the tramway carrier, togetherv with novel means, if it fails to operate, to automatically discontinue the operation of the loading conveyer f or'the time being.

These and further objects will be apparent after referring to the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the novel apparatus of the invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevation,

Figure 3 is a wiring diagram for operating the electrical devices for the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2.

Referring more particularlyto the drawings, the numeral 2 designates an overhead track which is made to extend between the various stations of the aerial tramway. Adjacent one end of the track 2 a short section of track 3 is pivoted, as at 4, to one of the supporting structures, which is indicated at 5. The pivoted track 3, on its end remote from the support 5, is provided with a short'hood, or guide, 6, which is pivoted thereto as at l, and adapted to make contact with the end of the track 2.

The support 5, for one end of the tramway, is provided with a superstructure 8 which carries a storage bin. 9. A foundation [0 is disposed beneath the support 5 and has mounted thereon a driving sheave l2 for imparting movement to the tramway cable I3. A motor I4 andagear reduction unit I5 are adjacently mounted on the foundation Ill for driving the driven sheave l2. A pair of idler sheaves l6 are mounted on the superstructure 8 for directing the cable l3 along the tramway track 2.

A wheeled carriage I1 is suitably securedto the cable l3 and adapted for movement on the track 2. A carrier I8 is pivotally supported by the carriage H for transporting material to the unloading station. The wheeled carriage/ll is also provided with a tripper shoe [9 on its upper portion for engaging the arm 20 of a switch 2 i which is secured to the superstructure. Upon the arrival of the carriage I! on the pivoted track 3,-the switch 2| will act to disconnect the cable driving motor i4.

A pair of shafts 22 and 23 are rotatably mounted adjacent the discharge end of the bin 9 and each adapted to carry a roll 24, around andbetween which an apron type conveyer belt 25 is disposed. The shaft 23 has a pulley 26 secured thereon for receiving movement through-a belt button switch 36. is mounted on the superstruc.-

ture 8 beside the spring cage 33 and in alinement with an adjustable plunger 31 which is supported by the free end of the pivoted track 3 and provided with a lock nut 38.

A spillage pan 40 is mounted on one end of a pivoted table M which is disposed beneath the pivoted track 3, and is over-balanced by a weight 42 on the other end thereof. A plunger 43 is disposed directly beneath the spillage pan 40 for actuating a switch 44, to which it is attached.

This switch, when closed, discontinues the operation of the motor 30 and stops the apron type.

conveyer belt 25 in the bin 9. The spillage pan 40 is thus capable of being over-balanced by a leakage of material from and around the carrier I8, and will act to eliminate waste- The carrier I8 is provided with a discharge door 45 to which there is secured a latch bar 46 which cooperates with a pivoted latch 41 on the carrier. The door latch 41 is operated through a suitable linkage 48 and a control lever 49 adjacent the upper portion of the carrier.

' In order to make certain that the door 45 of the carrier I8 is completely closed and fastened, a support 52 is disposed adjacent the spillage pan 40 and carries a pair-of alined journals 53 through which a bar 154 is extended. A bumper 55 is connected to the end of the bar 54 which is adjacent the spillage pan 40, and a pair of springs 55 positioned around the bar 54 both between the journals 53 and between the bumper 55and the journals. As the carriage IIactuates the limit switch 2| to discontinue the operation of the motor I4 for the driving sheave I2, the carrier I8 will come in contact with the bumper 55 and, through impact, cause the latch bar 46 to seat in the door latch4'l.

Referring to Figure 3 of the drawings, a wiring diagram is illustrated for controlling electrical adjuncts for the various devices previously described, although it is to be understood that any other suitable adjuncts and circuits may be used I in lieu thereof without departing from the spirit of the invention. A traveling-nut 'type limit switch 65 is geared to one of the idler sheaves I6, which are rotated by the tramway cable I3, and serves to reduce the speed of the cable driving motorI4 in three steps priorto the arrivalof the carriage IT on the pivoted track 3. The

limit's'witch 65. is entirely conventionalin construction and function, and is accordingly not shown in detail.

As the carrier I8 arrives at the loading point (adjacent the. bin 9), the tripper shoe I9 on the top thereof engages the switch arm 20 and actuates the limit switch 2| to stop the motor I4 through a magnetic reversing step accelerating speed controlling resistance 66. The motor I4 is provided with astandard type of spring-set sole-' noid'brake (not shown) which functions, when the power to the motor is cut ofi, to stop the empty carrier'I8 exactly in position before the As the apron type conveyer belt 25 functions to load the carrier, the pivoted track 3 is gradually depressed against the resistance of the spring 32 and permits theplunger "31' to actuate the push-button s witch 36,'which closes the circuit to a time delay relay 69. The time delay relay 69, thus put in operation, opens the circuit to the conveyer motor 38, thereby stopping the operation of the apron type conveyer belt 25 and, after a predetermined time interval, closes the circuit to the motor I4 forthe driving sheave I2,

which has been set by the magnetic reversing step accelerating speed controlling resistance 66 to drivethe cable I3 in the opposite direction.

The tramway carriage I! thus leaves the pivoted track 3 and is brought up to speed, through the motor I4, by the controlling action of the traveling-nut type limit switch 65, in the converse manner in which it reduced its speed prior to stopping and loading, as previously described.

As the time delay relay 5!! starts the motor I4,

after the predetermined interval mentioned, it is also effective to set a time delay relay 10 in operation to stop the motor 30 for the apron type conveyer belt 25, after a predetermined interval. In effect, this last interval is a few seconds longer than the actual time required to load the carrier I8, and will thus serve to eliminate waste in the event that the switch 36 adjacent the spring 32 failsin its function of stopping the conveyer.

A suitable time delay relay (not shown) actuates the magnetic reversing step accelerating speed controlling resistance 66 when the circuit to the motor I4 is opened. This insures the run ning of the motor in the opposite direction when it is again started, thus reversing the direction of travel of the cable I-3 and accordingly thecarriageII.

A conventional drum-type transfer switch II is centrally interposed in the circuits for the various electrical adjuncts and is provided with a' three-button switch I2 for enabling the manual stopping, and'forward and reverse rotation, of the motor I4 for the driving sheave I2, and a two-button switch 13 for manually starting and stopping the motor 38 for the apron type conveyer belt 25. a

An additional safety feature is provided in the form of an interlocked circuit I4 between the motor I4 for the drivingsheave I2 and the motor 30 for driving the apron type conveyer 25. This prevents the movement of the carriage I'l until after the conveyer is completely stopped. i

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the spring 32 may be suitably adjusted by means of the adjustment 34, and the plunger 31 may be likewise adjustedto effect the operation of the switch 36-for any desired weight of material in the carrier I8, and that the entire operation of the apparatusas described, is completely automatic. s

The tramway carrier I8, thus loaded, started and brought up to speed, as previously described;

is propelled along the track 2 toward the dis-' charging point by the movement of the tramway cable I3, and at the same time the empty carrier on the adjacent track, is propelled toward theloading point where the cycle of slowing down, stopping, loading and starting again is repeated. The two carriages I'Iiare so attached to the tramway cable I3 that when the empty carrier I8 is stopped at the loading point the loaded carrier is stopped at the discharging point, wh'ere'a suitably disposed tripper engages the control'lever 49 attached to the carrier I8, thus operating the door release mechanism 48, raising the door latch 41 from its seat on the latch bar "46, per

mitting the door 45 to be opened, and thus releasing the material contained in the carrier I8.

The method of controlling the operation of the also be adapted to control the carrier of a tramway of the single reversible type by a slight modification in the arrangement of the various electrical control units. A tramway of the single reversible type consists of a single overhead track on which a single tramway carrier is disposed and suitably attached to an adjacent tramway cable which is arranged in exactly the same manner as the cable for the double reversible tramway.

The foregoing method of controlling the carriers of reversible types of tramways may also be used in conjunction with the apparatus of Patent No. 1,652,209, to Morrison, which utilizes the reversing action of the carrier to operate the bucket door latch. This combination enables the carriers to be automatically loaded, sent out and the load dumped at any point along the overhead track by merely changing the location of the carriers with respect to each other along the tramway cable.

While we have shown and described one specific embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that we do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of our invention, as defined in the following claim.

We claim:

A conveyer comprising two conveyer tracks, a tramway cable adjacent said tracks, a carriage mounted on each of saidtracks and secured to said cable, a carrier suspended from each of said carriages, said carriers having discharge doors and fastening means therefor, a bin disposed adjacent said tracks, a discharge chute for said bin, a conveyer in said discharge chute, means for driving said oonveyer, means for driving said,

tramway cable in either direction, means forcon trolling the movement of said cable, springmounted track sections adjacent the discharge chute of said bin, means associated with said spring-mounted track sections for actuating the means for controlling the movement of said cable, means adjacent said track sections for insuring the operation of the fastening means for the discharge door of said carriers, means for discontinuing the operation of said conveyer if said door fastening means fails to operate, said last named means comprising a pivoted platform beneath said spring-mounted track sections, a spillage pan oh said platform, and a switch operated by the depression of said platform for disconnecting said conveyer driving means.

CLAIRE C. BEATTY.

ELMER J. LLOYD. 

